Although Helsinki, Finland heavy metal band Stratovarius were formed in 1982 by drummer Tuomo Lassila, the group did notrecordits debutalbum,Fright Night, until 1989. Released in 1992, Twilight Time established a fan base in Japan, becoming thebiggest-selling importof thatyear; Stratovariusconsolidated their Japanese popularity with an extensive tour of the countrybehind 1994's Dreamspace.Following 1995'sFourth Dimension, the lineupshifted to include vocalist Timo Kotipelto, guitarist TimoTolkki, bassist Jari Kainulainen, ex-YngwieMalmsteenkeyboardist Jens Johanssen, anddrummer Jorg Michael. T ...read more

Although Helsinki, Finland heavy metal band Stratovarius were formed in 1982 by drummer Tuomo Lassila, the group did notrecordits debutalbum,Fright Night, until 1989. Released in 1992, Twilight Time established a fan base in Japan, becoming thebiggest-selling importof thatyear; Stratovariusconsolidated their Japanese popularity with an extensive tour of the countrybehind 1994's Dreamspace.Following 1995'sFourth Dimension, the lineupshifted to include vocalist Timo Kotipelto, guitarist TimoTolkki, bassist Jari Kainulainen, ex-YngwieMalmsteenkeyboardist Jens Johanssen, anddrummer Jorg Michael. This lineup added achoir and orchestra for 1996's Episode in 1996 and1997'sVisions, the latter of which was released in theU.S. early in 1998.American reissues of most of Stratovarius' previous outputfollowed over thecourse of the year, and in the spring of 2000 thegroupissued Infinite. Intermission appeared the following summer. The bandreleased the two-part Elements in 2003 andcontinued its metallic output duringthe remainder of the decade with such albums as 2005's eponymousStratovarius and 2009'sPolaris (the latter issued following the departure ofguitarist Timo Tolkki and arrival of new membersguitarist MatiasKupianen andbassist Lauri Porra). In 2011, the band released the album Elysium. « hide